Another little joy that comes from team schedules being released is that we can start to mark our calendars for the top matchups. For those lacrosse fans given to long-term planning, this post is for you. We’ve looked at every scheduled game in order to identify the top ELO matchups of the 2018 lacrosse season.

The methodology is simple. We look at every scheduled game, then add the current ELO rating of both teams. Voila, list of the best matchups. As the fortunes of each team ebb and flow throughout the season, this list will change. Consider this our best guess at which games will be headliners. And check back periodically as we update this list weekly.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 matchups of the 2018 season (top 100 games can be found in the appendix along with the top February games).

What are we watching?

The first few weeks of the season will be a bit sleepy, but the third weekend is when we start to get some games that will shake us from the early-season stupor.

Two games in particular stand out. Later this week (Feb 16), Duke and Denver will clash in what is currently the 5th-ranked game of the season. Not to be outdone, the following day, Syracuse and Albany get together in what is currently the 4th best game of the season.

A bit farther out, circle Sunday Apr 22. That is when we have Yale vs. Albany and Maryland vs Ohio State. The Yale / Albany game is currently the 2nd rated game of the year and the Terps/Buckeyes game is #3. Outside of the numbers, Yale/Albany will likely feature two of the top Tewaaraton candidates (Ben Reeves and Connor Fields). And of course, Maryland / Ohio State is a rematch of last year’s championship game.

In terms of teams, the Terps feature heavily in this list. They are featured in 4 of the top 10 games of the season. Will Terps fans suffer from big-game fatigue? I doubt it.